Natural Paua Pearls

[GemGeek]

Marc, do you mean the Pacific Ocean off the coast of North America or the whole enchilada?

 

[J Marcus]

Oh! Sorry--I guess the Pacific does take in a lot of territory! Specifically, I meant the west coast of the United States and what I have seen of abalones from the Pacific coast and Baha California in Mexico. My experience with the abalones from Mexico is somewhat limited, though.

In looking through a couple of boxes of shells in my "stash," I came up with 1 broken shell that looks almost like the abalone tried to build a shell inside of a shell with a space in between! Very odd--I have no idea what caused that. I know I have one or two where the mollusc has built out a separate layer on the inside of the outside "lip" of the shell but none nearly as pronounced as pictured above. I also have a couple where it has built out what look like "fins" or "struts" further inside the shell but still on the "lip" side. cool:How's that for technical. . . ?) Well--when I can find more of those examples I'll get some photos and post them. They are all a puzzle to me. Some seem to be associated with parasites and others don't. There's lots of biting, stinging, burrowing and just plain irritating creatures and plants in the ocean. From what I've seen, it would be very easy for some of them to gain entrance via the "vent" holes (another technical term. . .) and cause problems for the abalone.

Additional thought: I just noticed that there are a couple of notches on the outside of the shell pictured above, just about dead center on where the "wing" is located. These look very consistent with damage from parasites (usually Toredo clams) on the edge of quite a few of the shells that I have. Perhaps the Paua has a little different method of dealing with these creatures?

Marc
http://www.flyrodjewelry.com/home/html

 

[GemGeek]

It sounds like you have enough shells to make abalone jewelry for a long time -- what fun!

 

[J Marcus]

It sounds like you have enough shells to make abalone jewelry for a long time -- what fun!

Well--yes. After 15+ years of searching for the blisters, I do have a few. (Boxes. . . ) ...and I'm just starting into putting some jewelry together. It's kind of exciting. I have some really cool ones.

I haven't had time to dig out the shell that sort of compares to the shell that New Zealand Natural Pearl posted above, but I had couple of interesting ones at hand so this evening I ran out and photo'd some on the hood of my old truck.

The first one is just a part of a shell that shows where the inside and the outside of the rim are starting to part ways. The rest of it must not ave been noteworthy since I don't seem to have it anymore.

The next one is an end on view of the partial shell (I never saw the rest of it.) where the inside and the outside layers of the shell are seperated with space between them.

The third one is an inside-the-shell view of the same showing how far this void extends. Quite a puzzle, I would say.

Now my curiosity is piqued and I'm trying to figure all this out. Fat chance. . .

Marc
http://www.flyrodjewelry.com/home.html

 

[New Zealand Natural Pearl]

Shell Borer

Shell Borer

[/ATTACH]
Here is a fine example of Shell borer. The beginning of the
creation of a natural blister Pearl.
One the outside of the shell - note the hole
Inside a beautiful natural blister.
This is the most common way these pearls are formed In New Zealand.

 

[GemGeek]

It's really interesting to see the funky shells when I've only seen fairly good ones. An education! Thanks, Marc.

And NZ Natural Pearl, that is fascinating-- and again, something I haven't had the chance to see.

 

[J Marcus]

That's really a beautiful blister--almost looks too good to be natural! I would be interested in knowing what the shell borer you refer to is. Is it a toredo clam (shipworm) or something else? From my reading of historical references from the days of wooden ships, it seems that these creatures lived in all of the oceans. The only reference I have seen referring to their not living in a specific saltwater area was to an ancient ship brought up from the depths of a fiord in Norway where fresh water from river(s?) reduced the salinity to a point that they weren't able to colonize and destroy the wood. I have noted, however, that I haven't seen any evidence of them in Puget Sound (not saying that they're not here.) and as well, the shells that I have obtained of the Green Abalone, Haliotis fulgens, that seems to reside mostly south of the U. S. border in the Bahia de California latitudes, is parasitized by a clam that seems to have a longer, more spearhead-shaped shell that also seems to lie more typically aligned quite parallel to the abalone shell. Perhaps there is more than one species referred to as the Toredo clam.

Blaire: The things I'm searching for are far more likely to occur in the funky ones! In fact, some of the best ones I've come across were so parasitized that it's hard to understand how they survived so long!

Marc
http://www.flyrodjewelry.com/home.html

 

[Miriam Reed]

HopePaua,

Very nice pearls. Are these your creations? In any case a thread for Haliotus Iris (vs. Haliotus Misc.) is welcome. Here is a small pendant we acquired together with some loose pearls last year, from New Zealand. It's called "Flower (Springtime)", 1.8cts pearls and 3x.01 diamonds, 18k.

Hi, I'm new to the forum - have just been visiting quietly for a few months, but I have to say I love this pendant!

 

[SteveM]

Miriam,

Welcome and thanks for the nice comment, which should convince my wife to wear the piece more often!

Steve